Which speakers are better for music?

[Brokas]

Which speakers are better for music?
Creative inspire P5800 5.1
Or
Creative Z323 2.1
I Don't have a sound card, but i have a decent intergrated sound that beats most of low end and some mid end sound cards.
Which one would have better/clearer/louder sound?

 

[HarryHusker]

Which set up has higher wattage? You will see better results w/ more watts...

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Wattage is only a small part of the equasion. For starters one is a 5.1 system and the other is 2.1. If there is room for proper placement of the speakers, a 5.1 system will sound much better, assuming the source is capable of 5.1 and the speakers are of equal quality. The only way to be sure is to try them both out and see which sounds better. Generally (very generally), a 2.1 system is adequate for most music, such as from radio or CDs.

 

[electrotune1200]

Which speakers are better for music?
Creative inspire P5800 5.1
Or
Creative Z323 2.1
I Don't have a sound card, but i have a decent intergrated sound that beats most of low end and some mid end sound cards.
Which one would have better/clearer/louder sound?

For an accurate reproduction of music, you should always stick towards a 2.1 setup. Very few audio CD's are geared for multi channels (SACD) I would like to see more on the market, but with people still supporting low quality MP3's, it's really no surprise.

I have the Creative Z323 speakers, and whilst they sound OK, they don't have a lot of grunt. Once you start to push the volume a bit, they will distort. I use them in my bedroom for sleepy time tunes.

I also own these, and have them set up in my lounge room, and if you have a few extra bucks, I would definitely recommend these. You can push these speakers to the brink, and they hold up quite well.
Review: Logitech Z623 2.1 Speakers | TechCrunch

 

[COMPUTIAC]

I have Logitech z506, they are a fantastic all around set-up, assuming you are referring to PC speakers.

Logitech Z506: 5.1 audio for $99 | TechCrunch

 

[kbrady1979]

These: Klipsch Promedia 2.1's

 

[HarryHusker]

Which speakers are better for music?
Creative inspire P5800 5.1
Or
Creative Z323 2.1
I Don't have a sound card, but i have a decent intergrated sound that beats most of low end and some mid end sound cards.
Which one would have better/clearer/louder sound?

For an accurate reproduction of music, you should always stick towards a 2.1 setup. Very few audio CD's are geared for multi channels (SACD) I would like to see more on the market, but with people still supporting low quality MP3's, it's really no surprise.

I have the Creative Z323 speakers, and whilst they sound OK, they don't have a lot of grunt. Once you start to push the volume a bit, they will distort. I use them in my bedroom for sleepy time tunes.

I also own these, and have them set up in my lounge room, and if you have a few extra bucks, I would definitely recommend these. You can push these speakers to the brink, and they hold up quite well.
Review: Logitech Z623 2.1 Speakers | TechCrunch

The distortion is due to a lack of power being pushed (wattage)...

 

[Dallas 7]

These: Klipsch Promedia 2.1's

Kbrady I've got a set of those Klipsch Promedia 2.1s for my desktop and they're great. I'd definitely recommend them.
They replaced a pair of Companion 2 Multimedia Bose speakers and the Klipsch Promedia is WAY better than the Companion 2 Bose.
Two thumbs up for Klipsch!

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

When I bought my Logitech 5.1 system, I went into the store planning on buying a Bose 2.0 system but changed my mind after listening tovarious systems and comparing them. The system I bought sound far better than the Bose and cost a bit less.

The moral of this story is, if at possible, go somewhere you can actually listen to various speaker systems and compare them to each other. Sound quality is a matter of personal taste and only your ears will be able to determine what will sound best to you. Keep in mind, music from radio, downloads, and CDs usually is only stereo and not all games and movies will have surround sound. You also need to have room for proper speaker placement.

 

[Dallas 7]

When I bought my Logitech 5.1 system, I went into the store planning on buying a Bose 2.0 system but changed my mind after listening to various systems and comparing them. The system I bought sound far better than the Bose and cost a bit less.

The moral of this story is, if at possible, go somewhere you can actually listen to various speaker systems and compare them to each other. Sound quality is a matter of personal taste and only your ears will be able to determine what will sound best to you. Keep in mind, music from radio, downloads, and CDs usually is only stereo and not all games and movies will have surround sound. You also need to have room for proper speaker placement.

Lady Fitz your opinion of Bose was like mine. The Bose set I used to have artificially boosted the base which made it sound boomy and obnoxious. Totally unrealistic. I didn't have an opportunity to listen to them ahead of time.
I heard some Klipsch PC speakers at Best Buy a while back and that was the end of Bose.

I agree completely that "only your ears will be able to determine what will sound best to you".

Also you're absolutely correct in another post when you stated "Wattage is only a small part of the equasion". I was into quality audio equipment back before we relocated to Texas several years ago and now live in an apartment. Apartments and high end stereo don't get along well. LOL

Quality audio comes from quality components, not raw power. You can't get good quality audio from low quality components by increasing the wattage; all that does is play poor audio louder.

 

[RunOrDie]

What about the trusty Logitech Z-2300? IMO it's still better than the current Logitech THX-Certified 2.1 speakers.

 

[kbrady1979]

Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's...............there are no PC speakers within 3 times that price range that sound as good.

 

[chaosrealm93]

These: Klipsch Promedia 2.1's

Kbrady I've got a set of those Klipsch Promedia 2.1s for my desktop and they're great. I'd definitely recommend them.
They replaced a pair of Companion 2 Multimedia Bose speakers and the Klipsch Promedia is WAY better than the Companion 2 Bose.
Two thumbs up for Klipsch!

bose is garbage in pretty much every range of speakers they make, ranging from the little computer monitors to the home theater packages

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I woudn't say Bose is garbage. Horribly overpriced? Heck yeah!

 

[kbrady1979]

I still have a set of the old Bose 501V's from back in the day that were refurbished from Bose, and they were phenomenal. Retail prices were high, but to say they are garbage is just silly. They always put a lot into their speakers, and it showed. I can't comment on their newer line of speakers though. I've had these Klipsch PC speakers for about 8 years or so and have no reason to look for anything else.

The reason people give Bose such a hard way to go now is because everybody and their brother make speakers that cost quite a bit less than Bose, and that sound decent enough. On the flip side, you don't hear people slamming other brands that cost tens of thousands of dollars for a set of speakers because hardly anybody has those speakers. They aren't garbage, but the value isn't there. Klipsch makes a set of floorspeakers that retail for about $10k.......they aren't worth it honestly, but they are far from garbage. Bose speakers look a little more attractive when you compare them to something like that.

 

[Gary]

If you can get speakers that are encased in wood, especially the sub woofer.

 

[chaosrealm93]

I still have a set of the old Bose 501V's from back in the day that were refurbished from Bose, and they were phenomenal. Retail prices were high, but to say they are garbage is just silly. They always put a lot into their speakers, and it showed. I can't comment on their newer line of speakers though. I've had these Klipsch PC speakers for about 8 years or so and have no reason to look for anything else.

The reason people give Bose such a hard way to go now is because everybody and their brother make speakers that cost quite a bit less than Bose, and that sound decent enough. On the flip side, you don't hear people slamming other brands that cost tens of thousands of dollars for a set of speakers because hardly anybody has those speakers. They aren't garbage, but the value isn't there. Klipsch makes a set of floorspeakers that retail for about $10k.......they aren't worth it honestly, but they are far from garbage. Bose speakers look a little more attractive when you compare them to something like that.

I've heard people say Bose made decent stuff back in the day and I'm sure they did too. But their new line of stuff really IS garbage though.

I had the displeasure of listening to the 301s when I went to futureshop the other day. My real intention was to listen to the klipsch RB61s. I went in and the tech guy set us up for an audition. They had the klipschs, polk RTIa3, the bose 301 and some other odds and ends. The guy popped in a live concert DVD for the music. The klipsch sounded detailed but a tad bright and fatiguing, the polks were decent for the price, a bit muffled and veiled and the bose was worse than the polk in every single way. Sounds compressed in the louder and more complex parts of the track, mind you the volume knob was untouched all throughout. Distortion was everywhere and it sounded like a pair of computer speakers driven too hard. It could have been a mismatch of amp and speakers, but then again, since bose's "specifications" are nothing more than dimensions, one would never know ;D

For the same kind of money ($3500) one would pay for their "home theater" systems i.e lifestyle v-class, you could put together something that outperforms it by a mile. PSB, totem, b&w, KEF and paradigm is not a bad start

 

[Gary]

Bose speakers are overpriced to people who cannot afford them. I can't so I do without. There are people driving $150,000 cars, now to me that is also over priced but to Donald Trump they are not. Everything is relevant to the person doing the buying. I have heard Bose speakers and the quality is excellent. I am not an audiophile so the speakers from my Daughters old Dell 8250 are just fine for me.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Bose speakers are overpriced to people who cannot afford them...

Not necessarily. When I last went shopping for speakers, I bought a 5.1 system that was about the same price as the 2.0 Bose I was going to get. The system I bought sounded much better than the Bose. In my book, that made the Bose overpriced since the quality was much lower than a better system at roughly the same price.

 

[chaosrealm93]

bose speakers are overpriced to people who cannot afford them...

not necessarily. When i last went shopping for speakers, i bought a 5.1 system that was about the same price as the 2.0 bose i was going to get. The system i bought sounded much better than the bose. In my book, that made the bose overpriced since the quality was much lower than a better system at roughly the same price.

bingo!